


Five days of the Starks

by yggrites



Series: It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year [2]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, Fluff, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-18 14:39:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13102269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yggrites/pseuds/yggrites
Summary: It's the snow storm of the decade, perfect timing to spend Christmas at the Stark's.Sequel to The tale of Arya and Gendry and Jon's Christmas Present.





	1. The 23rd

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't planning on doing this so soon but your comments are too sweet, they make me so happy. This work is the sequel to my previous work on the collection. It's a different work, and with several chapters, since the last one was only meant to be a one shot and I didn't really have any other ideias planed out. But alas, here we are now. Enjoy!

Now that Robb was the only Stark offspring with a delayed flight, Christmas was in full swing. Sansa and Catelyn were in the kitchen making dinner and Margaery, as the first official girlfriend staying over for the Stark's Christmas Extravaganza, was trying her best to help. Bran was in the living room playing Christmas songs in the piano, Ned was hidding in his study, Rickon was probably making two-headed snowmen and Gendry was upstairs unpacking and taking a shower while Arya and Jon were in charge of setting the table.

Arya now had a new bandage over the foundation that Sansa hoped would cover her now-turning-purple nose - it didn't - and had changed into a Christmas themed jumper that didn't have blood on it.

"Out of all of your friends, you couldn't have invited someone less depressing?" She complained to Jon as she handed him the forks.

Arya and Gendry had spent the whole ride home bickering and teasing each other, arguing over who's fault Arya's bloody nose had been. Not exactly what he had in mind. Once they got home and the fuss over her injury had begun, Gendry had barely said a word or interacted with anyone unless he had to. The fact that Arya had to give up her room and share with Sansa because Jon was sleeping in Robb's and all the guest rooms were already taken wasn't helping either.

"Give him a break." Jon told her. "He didn't even want to come, I was the one who insisted. Plus, I think he's just afraid Catelyn will hate him once she thinks he gave you a bloody nose."

"He  _did_ give me a bloody nose!"

"I'm not taking sides on this. But yeah, Catelyn. That might be my fault, I don't speak highly of her." Jon seemed a little guilty admiting it.

The reason he was sleeping in Robb's room was because Catelyn had turned his room into her study the moment he left home. Their relationship hadn't always been the easiest but his father and siblings always insisted he came home for the holidays and with time, he and Catelyn had managed to work around each other and co-exist peacefully.

Arya, however, refused to believe that that morning's incident had anything to do with Gendry's mood. "If he's just going to mop around then why did he come if he didn't want to? He should have just spent Christmas with his family."

Jon looked at her sharply and Arya knew she had screwed up. _Be less insensitive, right._

"Gendry is a bastard too." She did feel bad now. She could see Jon trying to decide how much he should tell her.  "His mother died a few years ago and he knows his father, but his wife... Catelyn is a sweatheart next to her."

Arya looked at her feet before passing Jon the wine glasses. "Sorry."

He smiled at her. "It's alright, you didn't know. You've lived like  _this_ your whole life, it's a little different for us."

By the time everyone was sat down and dinner was served, Arya had decided to stop teasing Gendry about that morning's events. At least at the dinner table. Catelyn Stark, however, had not dropped the subject, not even close. "You have yet to explain to me," her mother was looking directly at her. "how you got yourself a bloody nose just by going to the mall." She then went on to list all the possible scenarios which Arya was sure could only end with her getting into a fight with Santa's little helpers in front of hundreds of impressionable toddlers. She stole a glance at Gendry. Fork in hand, he looked like he was trying to slide under the table without anyone noticing while deciding which piece of cutlery was the best to stab himself with.

See, that morning Arya was sure that letting Catelyn Stark know that the brute stranger who had assaulted her daughter over a Christmas present was sitting at their dinner table could possibly be the most exciting 20 minutes of her Christmas Weekend. But now she couldn't help feeling bad for the guy. He didn't even have a home to go to on Christmas, I mean! As her mother was nearing the end of her list, Arya glanced at Gendry again.  _You better not make me regret this._

"... and I know for a fact that those people can get a bit carried away during the holiday season, I wouldn't put it past them." 

Arya braced herself. "Actually, it was my fault. I mishandled one of the books I was carrying and ended up hitting myself in the face. A pretty heavy one, at that."

Rickon was openly laughing at her by now and Margaery was wearing one of her typical looks, not buying a word she said. She could feel Jon and Gendry looking at her, and Gendry's blue eyes burning into her. 

Now it was time for her mother to go into a rant wondering how exactly could her own daughter be this careless on Christmas Eve's Eve, so shortly before the majorly awaited Stark Holiday Soirée. That was bound to last 20 minutes, at least. She did get started, but thankfully her father stepped in to change the subject and ask a now slightly more relaxed Gendry about his studies.

After dinner Arya had joined Sansa and Margaery on the porch, hoping the cold would help the tenderness she felt around her nose, but it only resulted in a questioning.

"So what you're saying is basically that your bloody nose had no sexual origins whatsoever." Margaery concluded after her story.

"None." Arya supplied.

"What a shame, you'd look nice together."

Sansa threw her head back laughing. "I'm pretty sure Jon would have a stroke if you hooked up with his best friend. Beside, he's, what, 5 years older than you?"

"I'm older than you!" Margaery faked her indignation.

"I have to agree with Sansa, even though age isn't the problem."

Margaery winked at her and they left once their hot chocolate was finished. Arya decided to stay behind a little longer with Nymeria curled at her feet. She loved Braavos but she missed the cold, maybe it was time to move back North.

When she heard the door open she expected to see her father coming to tell her to go inside. She was surprised when Jon stood over her and planted a kiss on her forehead.

"What was that for?" She asked, but she was smiling nonetheless.

"Just felt like it. I missed you, kid. And thanks for what you did back there."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't make a big deal out of this." Arya tried to dismiss him. 

"Come inside, you're going to freeze your ass off."

She laughed. "Just five more minutes, mom." 

"It's your ass, you do what you want. I want o keep mine not-purple and attached to my body." Jon messed up her hair fondly and went inside again. 

Lulled by the voices coming from inside and the soft piano music she must have fallen asleep and was woken up by the movement of someone sitting down next to her on the swing chair. She opened her eyes to see Gendry, tiny snowflakes standing out against his dark hair, reaching down to pet Nymeria.

"Careful, she bites." He jumped slightly but the wolf-hound didn't even move. Arya moved slightly to look down at her disapprovingly. "Well, you've really gone soft, haven't you?"

"You're going to freeze out here and die." Gendry warned her as petted Nymeria behind her ears.

"Hypothermia is for the weak." Arya answered dryly.

Gendry laughed and leaned back against the pillows, looking at her and visibly shivering. "How do you stand the cold?" 

Arya smiled and closed her eyes, taking in the cold wind, the kind of wind that left her lips chapped and skin red and raw. When she opened her eyes, Gendry was still looking at her. "I grew up here, and after 3 years in Braavos, you learn to be grateful for temperatures anywhere below 20 degrees. How are you still such a wimp, though? You're studying at the Wall, it's even colder than here."

Gendry held his blanket tighter around himself. "Cold is still cold." They sat in silence for a while before he spoke again. "I'm going to take a chance here and say you lied to your mother for me. Did Jon talk you into it?"

She looked at him, assuming Jon hadn't told him about the bastard-talk, and tried to dismiss him. "Don't worry yourself over it, no one deserves my mother's wrath on Christmas." Arya felt the need to add. "She's not too bad, she's just a mother of five." Gendry nodded. " _My_ wrath, however, that's what you should be worried about."

He laughed. "But really, thank you." Gendry paused, as if trying to figure out what to say next and sighed. "And I'm sorry about this morning. I was... I was a bit of an ass."

"Ah! So you are finally admiting it was your fault?"

He shook his head, realizing his mistake far too late. "That's not what I said!" But Arya wasn't listening anymore, going on and on about how she had been right all this time. "You're never letting me hear the end of it, are you?"

She laughed. "Unlikely. Very unlikely."


	2. The 24th

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for all your kind messages. Happy Christmas Eve!

Christmas morning always meant sleeping in for everyone but Catelyn. Well, not exactly sleeping in so much as sleeping until Rickon woke up and started running up and down the hall waking everyone up. He then would run to the kitchen to wait for a warm breakfast, leaving a trail of sleepy, zombie-like Starks, plus Margaery and Gendry, to follow him down the stairs. 

"He's 16," Sansa moaned, trying to pat down her bed-hair "you'd think he had grown out of this by now."

In the kitchen, Rickon had already cleaned out half of his plate and Catelyn started delegating tasks for the day the moment they sat down. Jon and Gendry were on errand-running duty, Arya and Margaery were setting the table, Rickon was in charge of gathering all the presents under the Christmas tree in the living room and Sansa and Bran were helping out in the kitchen. Margaery offered to put up decorations as well.

Mid-afternoon, Michael Bublé's Christmas album was out and Ned was opening the third wine bottle of the day, the festivities had officially begun. As Margaery had disappeared to hang up anything even remotely Christmas related and Rickon was trying to figure out what each one of them was getting for Christmas, Jon and Gendry arrived. Everyone gathered in the hall to help as they uptdated them on the snowstorm situation.

"Apparently they're keeping all the roads closed except for the ones connecting to the airport for as long as they can," Gendry was saying. "but that's about it. I think we were one of the last cars they allowed into the center."

"I'm guessing we'll be completely snowed in by tonight." Jon added. He could already feel Catelyn hyperventilating. Arya and Rickon started some sort of happy-dance of their own. Catelyn shushed them.

  
"As anyone managed to talk to Robb again?"

  
"The last time we talked he said his flight was leaving right about now." Bran repeated for the hundredth time that day. "I'm sure he'll be here before night-time."

  
"And what about Ygritte?" Asked Margaery.  
Jon couldn't help the goofy smile that spread across his face at the mention of his girlfriend, she was supposed to arrive the next day. "Don't worry about her, she's a tough cookie."

  
Arya groaned. "Did you seriously just call your girlfriend a _tough cookie_?"

  
"You'd be surprised at how often this happens." Gendry suplied. He looked a little pained.

  
As she moved to grab a few bags from Gendry's hands, Arya noticed he was wearing a woolen sweater with tiny little knitted snowmen on it. That made her smile. "Nice sweater." Gendry looked down to examine it and smiled back at her as Jon passed behind her.

"Which Christmas delicacy have you made for us this year, dear sister?" Everyone laughed and Arya immediately dropped her smile and followed Jon into the kitchen yelling "That was one time!". Gendry found himself disappointed that she wasn't smiling at him anymore. He turned to Sansa to distract himself. "What are they talking about?"

  
"Ah, the Great Lemon Cake Disaster of 2010, that one is a classic." She explained as they followed the rest of the Starks into the kitchen. "Arya decided to surprise us by making some lemon cakes for Christmas Eve Dinner, except she made the biggest mess this kitchen as ever seen and burnt all the lemon cakes."

  
"I _may or may not_ have burnt all the lemon cakes, you still can't prove that." Arya pointed a knife menacingly at her sister from across the counter.

  
"You did and then fed them to the dogs." Sansa didn't seem threatened.

  
"May or may not have!"

  
"Arya, stop waving knives at your sister." Catelyn warned her as she open the oven to take out a tray of gingerbread cookies. "Can you go grab the nice glasses from the cupboard in the hallway?" She scanned the crow before her. "Maybe take Gendry with you, I don't want you climbing up and down chairs. We don't need more bloody anythings."

  
"Thanks for all the faith you have in me, mother dear." Arya replied dryly as she stole a still hot cookie from the tray and burnt her tongue on it.

  
Gendry was following her out of the kitchen when they were stopped by a over-eager Margaery as they crossed the doorstep. Arya knew her, and she knew this meant trouble.

  
"Well, what do we have here?" Margaery could help the sly grin that spread across her face as she glanced above their heads.

  
Oh, Arya could kill her.

  
Above her and Gendry was a precariously hanged piece of mistletoe being held up by a flimsy piece of duct tape. Arya could only glare at Margaery while Gendry was getting redder by the second. By now every single family member in the kitchen was looking at them.

  
"Margaery, have you been hanging mistletoe around our very family centric, pg-13 home?" Arya tried not to snap at her.

  
"It's all a bit of fun, dear!"

  
Gendry looked around and his eyes stopped on Rickon, standing next to his mother, darting back to Margaery with a pleading look. "I hardly think this is appropriate."

  
For the first time since they were standing under the doorstep, Arya's eyes met his and she saw something in them she couldn't quite identify. She could almost swear she saw them drop to her lips for a second. She looked away, searching for Jon and sending him a silent cry for help but he was just pacing around and staring at the ceiling. _Coward_. She looked back at Margaery and rolled her eyes. "My nose is purple, Marg. _Purple_. Do you honestly think I'll be kissing anyone anytime soon?"

  
"Alright," Catelyn finally stepped in. "Enough of-"

  
"Dear family, I have arrived bearing gifts!" She was cut off with Robb arriving with a bag almost bigger than him full of presents. Behind him appeared a tiny figure. Robb put an arm around the new-comer and cut straight to the point. "And this is Jeyne, my wife."

  
Catelyn dropped the second tray of cookies and everyone stood staring at them for at least half a minute. Even Rickon seemed too stunned for words.

  
Finally, Sansa moved. She passed Arya and Gendry, whispering "Go get the damn glasses, you idiots." before dragging Margaery along to hug Robb and introduce themselves to Jeyne.

  
So that had been enough to send Catelyn into a spiral of despair and get Ned to open two more wine bottles before dinner had started. She was still wondering aloud what she had done wrong to get her first born child to elope by the time they were sitting down at the dinner table. Jeyne tried her best to charm the Stark parents but Catelyn wasn't having any of it, not today.

  
That meant Christmas Eve dinner was the most awkward anyone could remember. Not even Sansa accidentally coming out while Catelyn served the mashed potatoes 3 years ago could beat it. In the mean time, Arya and Gendry kept stealing glances at each other and looking away. Jon was actively pretending not to see.

  
After dinner came the time for present giving and Robb had out done himself, clearly trying to make up for his surprise guest. Catelyn was still sulking in a corner, her wine glass seemed perpetually glued to her hand.

  
When everyone was a bit more distracted, Arya sat down on the couch next to Jon and handed him his gift. Next to her's on the "From" tag, Gendry's name was scribbled with a different colored pen - she thought it would be funny, whatever. He saw it over Jon's shoulder and gave her a grateful, and maybe slightly playful, smile. Jon only rolled his eyes. After unwrapping the book, he only looked at it with a positively gleeful look in his eyes. Arya was feeling pretty proud of herself until he spoke, holding up the book and looking between Arya and Gendry. "Wait, is this..."

  
Gendry fell back on the couch and covered his eyes with his hands. Arya laughed as Jon examined the book. "I thought it would have a nose-shaped dent somewhere." It was now Gendry's turn to laugh, Arya was busing punching Jon in the arm. "Maybe some blood."

  
"Oh, shut up."

  
Once all the presents were exchanged, Ned excused himself and Catelyn and went off to bed. Robb went upstairs to help Jeyne "unpack" and one by one, eventually it was only Margaery, Jon, Gendry and Sansa left trying to convince Arya not to steal anymore gingerbread cookies because it would definitely piss off Catelyn. Obviously, she wasn't listening to them and sneaked off to the kitched to get some more and bumped into Gendry as she tried to make a swift getaway.

  
"Are all the Starks in some sort of competition to see who can piss your mother off faster?"

  
"Robb _eloped."_ She said, stuffing her face with one more cookie. "I could probably eat everything in this house and she wouldn't care." Gendry actually seemed to give it some thought, looking up as if he was considering what she had said when his eyes caught on something above their head. "Are you freaking kidding me?"

  
Arya followed his gaze and saw yet more hastily hanged mistletoe. This time Gendry was still very red but his eyes were fixed on hers before they - very clearly now - dropped to her lips. Arya felt her breath catch in her throat, her body leaning forward even though she really didn't mean to. She hadn't really noticed how blue Gendry's eyes were. Her brain seemed to panic and decided that yelling was the proper response.

"Margaery!" She wandered off in a pretence of finding her and trying not to look back. "I'm officially banning all mistletoe from this house!"


	3. The 25th

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you for all the lovely comments, they really make my day. Now, I'm just warning you, but this is quickly becoming the biggest holiday cliché ever and I'm not apologizing for it. Be prepared for all the mistletoe.

Catelyn Stark had woken up early and in a good mood. She had spent her late morning chatting with Jeyne to make up for her bitter drunkenness the night before and, since the festivities were only returning to the Stark household the next day, after a cheerful Christmas Lunch, she gave everyone the afternoom off of house duty.

As they were all bundling up in snow attire - Jon kept warning Gendry to layer up or he'd be could, Margaery threw in a "So cute, you're already like an old married couple." and was promptly flipped off - Ygritte appeared in their door step, half covered in snow and grinning from ear to ear.

"You're alive!" Gendry cheered dramatically and gave her a hug. He too was half covered in snow now.

Jon put his hands on her shoulders before she would get further inside the house and turned her around playfully. "Off we go again, missy. You're not getting snow all over the carpet. That means you too, Waters."

"Hey!" Ygritte faked her indignation. "Nice to see you too!" Jon smiled and gave her a quick peck on the lips.

"How did you even get here?" Margaery asked her, looking around. Everything around them was covered in a soft, white blanket of snow.

Ygritte pointed at the monstrous jeep parked where they could only assumed was the driveway, murmuring something along the lines of "You southern wimps" before shouting, pretty much her default volume. "You're forgetting I'm from the real North!"

At the protests rising from the Starks, Gendry groaned. "You're not having this discussion again."

They went around the house and into the godswood discussing the specifics of the Annual Stark - and now guests and significant others - Snowball Fight.

"Are we finally doing an actual boys versus girls this year? I'm a little tired of playing for Arya and Sansa."

They sisters huffed. "Like you were any help." Arya offered.

Margaery placed a hand on his shoulder. "Rickon, Rickom... A traditional boys versus girls is simply another result of the patriarchal society that we live in these days. But since we're all old enough to be aware of this, boys versus girls it is."

"They don't stand a chance." Robb stage-whispered to Gendry as they scattered, immediately getting hit with a snowball.

"I heard that!" Arya shouted.

The fight went on for a couple of gours, the girls clearly overpowering them due to a complicated system they had put in place that consisted of Ygritte and Sansa building an unbreachable snowfort while Arya and Jeyne packed the snowballs and handed them to Margaery, the one with the deadliest aim. The boys never stood a chance.

At last, it was Gendry against Margaery and Arya. He held his own surprisingly well but was eventually taken out by Margaery, who shouted as she twirled Arya around in a victory dance.

The sun was already setting as they made their way back to the house for some celebratory hot chocolate. Margaery elbowed Sansa and pointed behind them, where Arya and Gendry were arguing passionately but his arm was casually thrown over her shoulders until he started laughing and Arya elbowed him in the ribs. "Mistletoe works wonders." She whispered. Jon looked a little sick and shook his head. "What have you done?" He them regained his composure and spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. " The Karstarks just texted saying that the party tonight is still on."

"Yes!" Rickon fist-pumped but Jon placed a hand on his shoulder sympathetically. "Not for you, kid."

"This is so unfair, I'm 16 now!"

"And still not old enough to drink." Snasa pointed out.

"Then why can Arya go?" He whined as she and Gendry caught up with the rest of them. She threw a snowball at him.

"Because I'm 20, you ass." 

A few hours later they were all crammed inside Ygritte's seven seat jeep, a task that still wouldn't be easy without snow coats involved, and praying for their lives.

"And exactly why are we risking our lives to go to this party?" Gendry asked before Sansa, who was pretty much sitting on his lap by now, could accidentally elbow him again.

Jon, who was confortably ridding shotgun, turned around to answer. "Because the Karstarks always throw the best parties in the North."

"And I need one last night of drunkenness before I'm stuck in a house with you lot." That was Arya but he couldn't even see where she was seated.

"Don't be so dramatic." Sanda chastised her. "It's only for a couple of days."

"Clearly you never had to share a room with yourself." 

Thankfully it was a short ride because the Stark sisters could bicker like it was no one's business.

By the time they arrived the party was already in full swing, Christmas classics blasting in the sound system and drinks flowing. They were greeted by an over excited Alys Karstark rushing them all out of the snow. Gendry stayed behind to help Arya out of her coat. She could have snorted at him but her breath caught in her throat and she took his help silently. Arya wasn't a girl who swooned but she was still her mother's daughter. You can only understand the appeal of a guy who takes your coat when that's done to you.

"You clean up nicely." Gendry teased her.

"You don't look too bad yourself." That was an understatement. He was wearing dark jeans and a slightly worn woollen sweater that screamed I-just-rolled-out-of-bed in a Calvin Klein ad kind of way. His hair was deliciously disheveled from the snow and the wind.

Jon had disappeared with Ygritte the moment they arrived and Arya found herself by the snacks, downing drink after drink and chatting with Gendry for most of the night. She wasn't sure about the dynamic between them. Neither of them had mentioned the mistletoe incidents of the day before but she was sure Gendry was being nicer to her than a you're-me-friends-younger-sister nice. Arya usually hated flirting, more often than not it was just a waste of her time, but Gendry made it fun. Or maybe it was the beer and the wine, it could have been that. Eventually, Jon returned and took Gendry away for more personal introductions.

He had to keep kicking himself mentally, but still couldn't help it when his eyes kept searching the room looking for Arya. Gendry's stomach dropped when he saw her standing under the mistletoe with some ginger guy. She was smiling. He caught her eye and forced himself to look away and laugh at Jon's presumably lame joke, focusing on the conversation.  _She's Jon's little sister. She's Jon's little sister. She's Jon's little sister._ When Gendry looked back, they were both gone.

He excused himself from the conversation and stepped into the hallway, trying to get some peace and figure out why he cared so much about what Arya did. She was, in the best case scenario, a moderately annoying pain in the ass. But Gendry being Gendry, he had no such look. Arya was already there looking for her coat.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

She answered without even looking at him. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Arya-"

"What I do is actually none of your business." She was looking at him now, like somehow her mood was his fault.

Someone coughed behind them and both looked to see Margaery pointing above their heads. "Now you're just doing it on purpose."

They both looked up to see yet another piece of mistletoe hanging over their heads and then back at each other.

"Am I in some sort of after-school special that no one told me about?" Gendry asked no one in particular. Arya, however, was going off in every direction.

"No, this is great. Just brilliant!"

"Okay, what is the big deal?" Gendry snapped at her.

Arya being Arya, she wasn't about to stand down so soon. "Just go back to not caring about what I'm doing because I am just tired of being stood up under some sorry leaves-"

And then it clicked. Or Gendry thought it did, it could have just been the beer. But he was kissing Arya and her hands were in his hair and she wasn't talking anymore, so he must have gotten something right.

Arya started saying something along the lines of "Nosenosenose." but he wasn't about to stop now and kept kissing down her neck the shoulder that her blouse exposed. She pulled away to look him in the eyes. "Bathroom. Now."

They stumbled into the bathroom, Arya shutting the door by pushing Gendry against it, and then they were kissing again, manouvering only slightly awkwardly around her nose. She let her hands explore under his sweater until they found the button of his jeans.

Here she was, on Christmas Night, taking his brother's best friend's pants off in the guest bathroom of the Karstarks.  _Classy._ But Arya was already tipsy and decided against over-thinking anything at this point. Not when she was enjoying herself this.

After the button was undone she moved on to the zipper, only it was stuck.

Gendry pulled away after a while. "Do you need some help with that?"

"I think I got this." She replied dryly.

"Here, let me." He shifted as Arya snapped her head up to let him know he wasn't the first guy who's jeans she unzipped and ended up head-butting him.

She stepped back, her hands flying to her head as Gendry's flew to his nose. 

She stepped closer to him again as he moaned in pain. "Just let me see!" She protested, trying to move his hands away.

And yes, that was definitely blood.

 


	4. The 26th

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a little shorter and slower, but I promise I'll make up for it in the next chapter. In the mean time, I hope you enjoy!

Arya never got hangovers. Ever. Not even after that one night in freshman year when she woke up outside the shadiest bar in campus smelling of cigarettes and cheap tequilla.

That was why she couldn't understand how she could barely function the morning after Christmas, when simply sitting up on the bed made her feel like she'd been stabbed in the forehead.

She proceeded to slowly get up and make her way to the kitchen still half asleep. And only when she saw Gendry checking his reflection on the toaster did she realize that maybe her headache had to do with her bumping her forehead against his nose.

He saw her come in and smiled as he took in Arya's snowflake patterned pajama pants and a matching button down. "Morning."

"Morning." She replied, leaning against the counter behind him. "How's your nose?"

"Not purple," he replied having now turned back to the toaster. "so that's something."

"Sorry about that."

"It could be worse. It was a shame, though." He looked a little startled at his own words.

Arya looked at him quizzically. She was about to press him about that when Robb and Jeyne entered the kitchen. "Mum is freaking out about the snow." He announced.

Arya rolled her eyes. "Someone should tell her it's been snowing for days now."

"We are completely snowed in for the day." Robb informed as he moved around the kitchen making breakfast for himself and Jeyne. Arya was stealing almost everything he put on his plate. "She's been up since 9 calling everyone to reschedule tonight's party but she refuses to have it after tomorrow. Something about it might as well turning into a New Year's Eve celebration, and we all know how mum feels about New Year Parties."

"You mean the parties hosted by the sad and lonely grasping at straws to pretend they have friends?" Sansa offered as she entered the kitchen. "Mum's study is right next to my room."

"At least that means we get another day off." Arya pointed out. She moved Robb's plate to the sink and left the kitchen before all her siblings took over and then her head would explode, ignoring his protests. In the hallway, she ran into Ygritte and Margaery whispering between themselves. That wouldn't have set off any alarms had she known those two were even capable of whispering. Arya felt compelled to intervene but her headache was getting worse and the prospect of a warm shower stired her away and up the stairs.

Since it was snowing far too heavily for anyone to think about going outside, Ygritte and Rickon put up a poll to have a movie afternoon, an ideia that backfired horrifically when Sansa decided to monopolize the DVD player and their were stuck watching holiday themed rom-com's. Arya was shipped off to the singles' couch with Rickon, Bran and Gendry.

"If anyone starts sucking face I will kill you myself." She warned her siblings.

She managed to distract herself for a while - if Arya had to watch "Love, Actuallty" one more time she would puke - by putting together the worlds biggest snack table and then joining Rickon in throwing popcorn at their cuddling siblings, Bran looking out for any under-the-blanket movement, but they eventually ran out of popcorn.

The wind had started to pick up and with the warmth of the living room, Arya was half asleep when she was woken up by a loud clicking sound and protests from everyone. She sat up straight, realizing she had been leaning against Gendry's shoulder, and there was no other light in the room except for a few candles they had lit up. Robb grabbed one of them and moved to the window. They all followed to see that it was pitch black outside as well.

"I'm going to get some more blankets before it gets cold." He informed them. "Sansa, can you go get more candles?"

"On it."

As she left the room, Robb looked at his remaining siblings. "Does anyone know where the generator is?"

"I do." Arya informed him. "Give me 5 minutes."

"You should take Gendry as well, it might be dangerous for you to wander around by yourself. And in the dark." Even in the dim candle light she could spot Margaery's mischievous look. And she probably wasn't the only one.

"Sure." Gendry stood up at the same time that Jon shot to his feet. "I'll go."

Ygritte, however, had other plans, grabbing his arm and pulling him back onto the couch. "No, you're staying here."

"Then I'll go." It was Robb's turn now but Ygritte shot him down just as quickly.

"No, you're staying as well." She had a way of talking in a sweet voice that scared you a little. He looked a little offended but sat down all the same.

"In case you haven't noticed, the power is down." Rickon pointed out in frustration. "Do you need me to go?"

"You all just sit down, I'll be right back." And with one last look of annoyance at her brothers, Arya left. Gendry hesitated before he caught Margaery and Ygritte exchanging a meaningful look and followed her down to the basement.

She was wearing a red and gold sweater with brightly colored pompoms on it, he noticed. He had noticed before, of course. Since Arya had told him she liked his sweater, it seemed they had gotten into some kind of unspoken Christmas Sweater competition, trying to out-do each other with every outfit change. He was wearing a bright red sweater with Christmas trees and snowmen and candy-canes all over, looking like one of Santa's little helpers had just thrown up on him.

Gendry had found it funny at first, after all it was perfectly harmless. But now he could only think about what Arya would look like taking that sweater off and it suddenly didn't feel very harmless anymore.

"Sorry about that." She offered while opening the door to the basement, startling him out of his thoughts. "They probably think we're going to jump at each other the moment we're alone." She laughed a little.

Gendry looked around and wiggled his eyebrows, picking up at her funny approach to light up the mood. "Kinky."

Arya frowned, taking in their dusty surroundings. "I'd go for unsanitary."

He laughed as she waved a flashlight around, trying to spot the generator since she was the only one interested to learn how it worked back when her father first bought it. And she looked so focused and cute and he couldn't help the words that fell from his mouth. "Did you tell them? You know, about last night." So much for funny.

That was the first time they were talking about it. About anything that had happened - or hadn't, for that matter - between them. "No."

He nodded, not really sure if that was a good or a bad thing. She found the generator and turned it on, now they only had to wait for it to start working. Arya turned back to Gendry and took a deep, shaky breath. The basement was just a fancy name for a long, thight corridor that ran under the house. In the maze of boxes and shelves, they were standing unbelievably close and Arya kept thinking about what Gendry's lips felt like on hers. She had to ask. "What did you mean, this morning, about it being a shame that -"  
She was cut off by the same clicking sound that woke her up and the lights coming back on.

He just looked at her face for a good while, not moving. "We should get back upstairs before your brothers think I'm down here conspurcating their little sister." Gendry forced out a laugh, but still stood right where he was.

Arya looked over his shoulder and then back at him, waiting for him to move. His eyes never left hers. "This place is pretty narrow, I'm going to need you to move if we're going anywhere."

"Right." Finally breaking the spell, he turned around, tripping on one of the boxes as he made his way back to the stairs. "Nice sweater, by the way."


	5. The 27th

Arya was woken up at 8 am by her mother shouting from the driveway. She dragged herself to the window to see her ordering around the men cleaning the snow that had pilled up on the road. The sky was blue today and it appeared the snow had stopped for a while.

"I don't care about your hierarchy, I'm having guests over tonight, I need them to be able to find my driveway." She heard her mother complain as she pulled a sweater over her pajama and went downstairs to see what they had for breakfast.

"Do you think you can pack everything by tomorrow morning?" She heard Jon asking Gendry.

"You're leaving already?" She asked them as she filled her plate with leftover Christmas desserts.

"It looks like it's stopped snowing for a while, we're going up to the Wall while the roads are open." Arya tried not to feel disappointed. Jon moved behind her to mess up her hair. "Why, will you miss me?"

She waved his hand away. "Now I'll be stuck heer with Robb and _Jeyne_."

" _Arya_ ," Jon warned her. "Don't be rude."

"I'm not! It's just that she's too nice, always trying to  _get to know me_."

The boys both laughed. "Give her a break." Jon advised. "Besides, you still have Sansa and Margaery."

"They're leaving tomorrow night for High Garden. My only escape will be making double-headed snowmen with Rickon."

Jon shrugged. "It could be worse."

They sat around the kitchen table, making small talk, Jon and Gendry mostly making fun of Arya's unfortunate fate, until Catelyn came inside, proud to have gotten the city hall's cleaners to open up their driveway and sending everyone off with something to do before the Stark Holiday Soirée later that day, only allowing them to stop for lunch.

Less than half an hour later, everyone was up in the Stark household as there were champagne glasses to be cleaned, piano's to be tuned and drinks and snacks to be prepared.

By the time 6 pm rolled around, Bran was on the piano playing his best rendition of "Baby it's Cold Outside" and trying to impress Meera Reed, Ned was making cocktails for everyone and Catelyn was at the door greeting their guests and passing them over to her children for some small talk.

The party was well underway and Arya had had some of those cocktails herself when Gendry spotted her by the chocolate fountain -  _the chocolate fountain_ \- sending a distressed look at Ygritte as one of her dads colleagues was talking about the stock value of the company. Ygritte replied with a distressed look of her own, looking pointedly at Jon's hand in her arm as they talked to the Umbers.

Gendry exited the conversation he was having with Sansa and Margaery and went over to Arya's side and looped his arm in hers, offering the man one of his Colgate smiles and saying "Excuse me, but I'm afraid I'll have to steal her for a moment." before stiring them into the kitchen. Arya downed a glass of champagne before she looked at him, a grateful smile on her lips.

"God, I could kiss you right." She blushed slightly after the words left her mouth. Neither of them moved for a few seconds and then they moved together, meeting each other halfway, lips crashing together to pull apart a second later, yelping and clutching their noses.

Arya looked at Gendry as the pain subsided. She really wanted this.  But she wanted to kiss him without having to pull apart every five seconds because of her stupid nose, although, clearly, the odds weren't really in their favour. She was about to suggest they went back to the party when Gendry's eyes roamed over her legs. She shivered.

She grabbed his hand and started pulling him into the halway and up the stairs.

"Where are we going?" He asked behind her.

"My room."

"You're in Sansa's room, it would be a little weird." Gendry stopped, waiting for her response. Arya turned around to reply and pull him along again, rolling her eyes.

"My room as in the room you're staying in."

"Oh."

They hurried inside and Gendry fell on the bed pulling her with him after kicking the door shut. He started kissing down her neck, his hands finding their way into her hair, when Arya spotted a big, green sweater with a Christmas Present knitted on the front.

"Where do you even get these sweaters?" She wasn't exactly expecting an answer but she felt his lips curve into a smile and he pulled back.

"It was this thing I had with my mother, she -"

Arya's unbelieving look shut him up. "Do you honestly think this is the best time to be talking about your mother?"

He replied by kissing her again, this time slowly trying to fit around each other so that neither of them was hurt.

She eventually pulled him up and started unbuttoning his faded blue button down that made his eyes look amazing. She was kissing down his stomach and pulled away when she got the waistband of pants.

"Gendry Waters," her voice was scarily low. "are you actually wearing the same jeans you were wearing yesterday?"

"What? They're my good jeans!" He took the opportunity to pull off her sweater, earning a muffled yelp from her as it got caught on her nose.

Arya sighed and took off her sweater herself. "Is it really worth the trouble?"

Gendry stilled his hands on either side of her and raised an eyebrow. "Are you asking if having sex with me is worth the trouble?"

She shrugged. "Just trying to make a conscious decision."

Gendry replied by planting kisses down her neck and chest. Arya's hands immediately flew to his hair to keep him there.

"I'm really glad you don't have some stupid sense of nobility or something." She pointed out after a while.

"I do," He murmured against her skin. "it's just that you're wearing really nice shorts." He made his point clearer by letting his hands travel down to cup her ass, earning a soft moan from her.

"Of course you do."

He pulled back this time to look in her eyes. "God, Arya, will you just shut-"

They both stilled at a knock on the door followed by Sansa's voice. "Arya, can you come here for a second?"

She threw her head back and sighed. "I'm a little busy at the moment."

They both waited for Sansa to go away but a few seconds later she asked again. "Gendry, can you please tell Arya to come outside, I need to talk to her."

 _Don't you dare,_  she mouthed, still half on his laps and her hands on his neck. Gendry closed his eyes and groaned. "Sure."

She stood up abruptly and grabbed her sweater, whispering "I could kill you" before steping out of the room.

"What?" She snapped. Sansa, as usual, was unfazed.

"Mum and dad are drunk and slow dancing in the middle of the room. I think it's time we called it a night."

Arya remembered the party that was going on downstairs and calmed down slightly, nodding. As she made to follow her sister, Sansa pointed at her head. "You might want to brush your hair first." 

They went back to the party together, Arya trying to push away any thoughts of Gendry on her bed as she thanked her parents' friends for coming and sent them on their way.

It was almost midnight when they had finished cleaning the kitchen and living room, after sending their parents and Rickon off to bed. Arya was off as well, when Gendry passed under the kitchen dooray and put his arm around her waist, pulling her in for a kiss. It was unlike any of the kisses they shared so far which had all been hungry and clumsy. This was soft and sweet and didn't hurt her nose. When they pulled away, he spoke.

"Before you kill me, I was just going to suggest that maybe we should wait until your nose isn't purple anymore." Then he added as an afterthought. "You know, _if it's not too much trouble_."

Arya laughed, her hands on the collar of his button down, and thinking she could easily get used to this. "I'll think about it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank everyone who took the time to read and comment on this, it means the world to me! I honestly had so much fun doing this, I really hope you enjoyed. Also, I want to let you know, or at least those of you who are interested, that there will most likely be a New Year's Eve sequel to this story. See you then!

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope it lives up to your expectations! Anything you want to see next, let me know in the comments.


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